Immortals (Runes book 2) (18 page)

Torin gripped my face and stared into my eyes. “I want to know everything the Norns told you. Everything.”

I nodded. Cora and Eirik were walking toward us. “Tonight. When we are alone. Right now I need to get him out of here.”

11.
 
NIGHT TERRORS

There was mass exodus from Cliff House, most people spotting bruised chins, jaws, or knuckles. I walked silently beside Eirik and Cora, listening to conversations of students hurrying to their cars.

“That was jacked up, man,” someone said behind us. “One second I was talking to Hollinger, the next I remembered the horse-collar tackle he pulled on me during practice a few days ago. Punching him just made sense.”

“At least you have a reason. I don’t know why I hit Granger. I mean, he’s a douche, but that never bothered me before,” another one said. “I just wanted him to shut up.”

“Sorry, man. I saw you smiling at my girl and I lost it,” another student said to our right as they crossed the street to their cars.
 

We piled inside the Jeep, and Cora immediately turned on the overhead car light and flipped down the visor.

“I can’t believe that bitch Colleen attacked me.” She studied her right cheek. Two welts ran from the corner of her mouth to her ear. One was puffy and red. “I’m going to be scarred forever.”

She was so melodramatic. The wounds were superficial.

“No, you won’t,” Eirik said, cupping and gently stroking her face. “Two days and you’ll be good as new.”

“You sure?” Cora asked.

“Absolutely.” He continued to stroke her jaw.

I hated to interrupt their moment, but I had to know one thing. “What happened back there, Cora?”

“I was talking to Jaden—”

“Flirting,” Eirik corrected.

“I was not. We were discussing how I choose guys for my vlog when—”

“He pulled you onto his lap,” Eirik finished again, not masking his annoyance. “I saw you through the mirror behind the food counter.”

“Was I really flirting with anyone tonight, Raine?” Cora asked in a trembling voice, turning to glance at me.

Cora loved to flirt. Even though she thought it was harmless, Eirik always hated it and often gave her a hard time. “I, uh…”

Eirik snorted and started the engine. “I’ll drop you off first, Raine.”

Surprised he didn’t offer to drop off Cora first, I sat back. The silence during the drive was thick with tension. My thoughts turned to Torin, and I smiled. Maybe things would work out between us after all. I felt a little guilty for being happy when my friends weren’t even talking to each other. Maybe they’d have a chance to talk once they dropped me off.

Eirik pulled up outside my place, and I glanced over at Torin’s. It was in total darkness. He wasn’t home yet.

“Talk to you later, Raine,” Cora said.

I nodded and waved.

“Later,” Eirik added, but his expression said we needed to talk. He was smart enough to know that the incident at Cliff House was supernatural, which meant his people were involved.

I started toward my house as they took off. Muted light was visible through the living room window, and I wondered if Dad was asleep. He tended to leave the stair lights on when I hung out with my friends late at night. An SUV pulled up into Torin’s driveway, and I stopped. He jumped down and hurried toward me.

“I was just going inside,” I said.

“Not yet.” The SUV took off, the driver hitting his horn. Torin waved and took my hand. “We need to talk.”

I checked my watch. It was a little past eleven, so I had time. “I have to be home by midnight.”

“I’ll make sure you are tucked in bed.”

I smiled at the visual. I’d pull him under the covers and not allow him to leave. He picked up a bag he must have dropped when he left the SUV, and we walked to his place. Inside, we headed to the family room. Ingrid didn’t come out of her bedroom, but she must have cleaned up because there was no evidence of our earlier meal. While Torin went to the fridge for drinks, I shrugged off my jacket and put it on the counter, watching him.

“Soda or juice?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter.”

He grabbed two bottles of apple juice, sauntered to where I stood, took my hand, and tucked it under his. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“Upstairs to my room. It’s private.”

My heart started a crazy staccato beat, excitement washing over me. I didn’t protest his assumption that I wouldn’t mind going to his bedroom. I loved his take-charge attitude. Besides, I wanted to be with him, fall asleep in his arms again, and not because I just had a craniotomy.

“I need to know everything the Norns said about Seville, so I know what I’m up against.”

I liked having him in my corner, though his words didn’t match the look I’d seen in his eyes or the vibes I got from him. “Don’t you mean what
we
are up against?”

 
“It doesn’t matter how you phrase it, Freckles. I’m not letting Norns screw with your head again or force you to join them just to protect Seville.”

Norns were maidens with zero interest in men or love. I wasn’t that noble. Not now that Torin was back in my life. “I have no intention of becoming a Norn.”

“Good because I wouldn’t let you.”

“Let me? Who died and gave you the key to my future?”

He stopped, his eyes roaming my face. I swallowed at the heat in his eyes. He let go of my hand, reached up, and pushed the hair away from my face.

“You did when you ran across your yard and fell into my arms like it was where you belonged. When you look at me with a mixture of innocent wonder, seductive charm, and enough defiance to make a lesser man back off.” He lifted my chin, running his thumb across my lower lip. My breath caught. He gave me a slow, sexy smirk. “When I touch you and your breath catches.” Slowly, his eyes not leaving mine, he lowered his head. “When you forget to breathe because I’m about to kiss you.”

Just like that, thoughts of Eirik and Norns became insignificant. Anticipation rolled through me. I reached up and placed my hands on his chest, the thin material of his polo offering no barrier against the heat from his body.

“Do you know how hard this week has been for me?”

I swallowed, shaking my head, wishing he would stop talking and kiss me already.

“Wanting you, telling myself I shouldn’t. Watching you flirt with those idiots Drew and Keith. Wanting to protect you from the morons at school and always coming short.” He rubbed his cheek against mine, the contact sending heat coursing through me. “You have no idea how close I came to going from class to class at super speed and marking everyone with forgetful runes.”

“It’s okay.” My hands fisted, bunching his shirt. The anticipating was killing me. “You protected me against the reporters.”

“It’s not enough. I plan to do more.” He dropped kisses along my cheekbone, the corner of my eye, my temple. Slowly, he came down along my other cheek. My insides went all mushy at his tenderness, my heart pounding. Our breath mingled as he rubbed his nose against mine, and I trembled.

Getting impatient, I gripped his jaw. “Stop teasing me.”

He chuckled, the sound rippling through me. “Funny, you tease me all the time. With a smile. A look. Walking into a room.”

He rubbed his lips across mine, kissing my upper lip then my lower. I pressed against him, needing to get lost in him. The taste of him exploded in my senses until I was consumed with one thought: Torin. He became the reason I was breathing, all my senses tuned into him. If it were possible to be fused to another person, we would be one.

He lifted me up, one arm looping behind my knees, the other cradling me close, our lips locked. He kicked something, his door I presumed, and entered his bedroom. Lights came on and the door closed behind us. Gently, he laid me on his bed. He didn’t give me a moment to look around. Not that I needed to. This used to be Eirik’s room. I knew it was spacious and as big as the one across the hallway. My focus stayed on Torin’s face. I heard the bottles of juice he’d carried knock as he put them on the table, then he lowered himself beside me, one leg trapping mine.

The feel of his body against mine took my breath away. He rained kisses on my face and my neck, taking little nips that had me gasping. I pressed against him, needing more. A low growl escaped him, and he was back to kissing my mouth, sucking me down into a whirlpool of emotions and sensations. I could stay with him like this for hours. Forever.

His knuckles moved up and down my bare arm before stopping at my waist, where my shirt and jeans met. He slipped his hand under my shirt, and I stopped breathing. The feel of his skin against mine was nothing like I’d ever imagined. I shivered. Was it possible to die from too much sensation? Maybe from not breathing.

I sucked in air, bunched his shirt, pulled, and imitated him, touching him intimately. He shuddered then went still. Sure I had done something wrong, I froze, too. My eyes flew to his. His eyes burned, his face tight with tension.

“Don’t stop,” he said in a voice an octave lower. Then he sat up and yanked off his shirt.

I was like a kid in a candy store. My eyes feasted on his broad chest. Golden skin. Rippling muscles. Taut abs. It was one thing to ogle him from afar and quite another to have him this close. At my mercy. Blood roaring past my ears, my pounding heart threatened to explode, I drooled.

He leaned against the pillow, hands behind his chest. “Go ahead.”

I did. His skin was hot, smooth, his muscles flexing under my palm. A few times he held his breath, telling me without words what pleased him. I grew bolder, loving the feel of him.

He caught my wrist when I reached his belly button. “That’s enough.”

“But—”

“Come here,” he whispered, studying me from under his lashes.

I crawled up his hot bod, draped myself over him like I’d always fantasized, and stared into his eyes. The fire in them had dimmed for some reason.

He pushed my hair back and cupped my head, his expression serious. “Tell me what the Norns said about Seville.”

I blinked. “Now?”

He chuckled. “Yes, now. I have to tuck you into bed by midnight, and we have...” he checked his watch, “twenty minutes.”

I pouted. I’d rather make out than talk about Norns, but from his expression, that wasn’t going to happen. I sighed. “First, Eirik is not human. He is Baldur’s son.”

Torin tensed.
“Odin’s son Baldur?”

“Yes.”

Torin cursed softly and sat up, forcing me to leave my comfortable position on his chest. He dropped a kiss on my lips then hopped off the bed and started to pace. The way the muscles shifted on his chest and stomach had me mesmerized. He had such a beautiful body. Lean. Hard. Masculine without being overpowering.

“This explains everything,” he muttered. “Lavania’s behavior, why he’d looked familiar when I first saw him, the crap that happened tonight. A force so dark and scary is after him they had to hide him down here.” He sat, his blue eyes piercing. “Tell me word for word what the Norns said.”

By the time I finished, Torin was pacing again.

“Say something,” I said.

He continued to pace.

“You’re seriously beginning to scare me.”

He stopped, his eyes narrowed on me. “The Norns were right. He will need protection until we catch this thing after him. I don’t know what happened tonight or if whatever affected the others was this, uh, shadow. He acted strange, almost like he was enjoying the carnage.”

“Which is very strange for someone who hates violence. I think he was possessed.”

Torin came to sit beside me, his eyebrows cocked. “What are you talking about?”

“When I went to talk to him, he didn’t recognize me. I asked him about Cora, and he had no idea who she was either. Then his eyes glowed strangely. When they cleared, he seemed surprised by the chaos. The person we saw smirking and taking pictures wasn’t the Eirik I know. Do Norns possess people?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but they never sleep, which makes them perfect watch dogs.”

My stomach dropped. “Are you saying I have to be one of them to protect Eirik?”

“Hel’s Mist no.” He gripped my arms, his eyes flashing. “Never. I’m saying we have to find a way to protect him. You can’t take on this responsible on your own, and the Norns had no business asking you. We will protect him together.”